The city of Inverness can trace its history back to at least the days of the Picts and has been a stronghold since those times.

It is located where the River Ness joins the North Sea and the river helped to give the city its name. In Gaelic, the word Inverness literally means "mouth of the Ness". If you're keen, you can brush up on your Gaelic: around one in 20 of the locals in Inverness are able to speak this language.

As you've probably guessed, the river flows into Loch Ness. So you could certainly use your visit to Inverness to do a spot of monster watching! The myths and legend surrounding the Loch Ness monster are numerous. The lake is big, with a surface area of nearly 22 square miles and at its deepest point is 754 feet. Which is plenty of space for the famous monster to hide in, especially when you consider that the deepest ever SCUBA dive was only just over 1,000 feet.

Depending on your view of bagpipe music, you will either want to head towards Inverness during September or avoid it like the plague because that is the month that the city hosts the annual Northern Meeting, which is a prestigious competition for solo bagpipers.

If you want to see other Scottish pursuits then you should time your visit to take in the annual Highland Games which attract top notch contestants for such sports as tossing the caber, the stone put, Scottish hammer throwing and sheaf tossing amongst others. These are all ancient sports that still retain their spectacle in today's modern world. The strength of the "heavy" athletes simply has to be seen to be believed. The caber is similar in size to a telephone pole - usually around 16 to 20 feet long and weighing somewhere between 80 and 130 pounds. So don't try this sport at home - the skill you need to even be able to balance a caber let alone throw one through the air in the direction you want it to travel isn't something you can pick up overnight.

Other sports aren't ignored either. Inverness has two football clubs. Caledonian Thistle are members of the Scottish Premier League, so you are assured a top class game.

History fans will want to visit Inverness Castle. This is currently used for the Inverness Sheriff Court and most of its current structure was built in 1836. However, the site has been used for a castle since the 11th century, so it is steeped in history. If you want an extra souvenir, get hold of the Royal Bank of Scotland's 50 note which shows the castle on its reverse side.

When you decide to visit Inverness, do your best to stay in one of the many smaller locally owned and run hotels and guest houses that are available. You'll be assured of a warm Scottish welcome and your host will almost certainly be able to help you by pointing out little known local secrets and places to see that are on or off the beaten track according to your preferences.